


Nine in the Afternoon

by aiwritingfic



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-25
Updated: 2014-02-25
Packaged: 2018-01-13 17:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1235119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aiwritingfic/pseuds/aiwritingfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Back to the street, back to the place, back to the room where it all began.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nine in the Afternoon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Infiniteskye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Infiniteskye/gifts), [unresponding](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unresponding/gifts).



> Based on [_Nine in the Afternoon_](http://youtu.be/yCto3PCn8wo) by Panic! At the Disco. First posted to [BPS OTP Battle](http://basketballpoetsociety.tumblr.com/post/77437980900/challenge-59-nine-in-the-afternoon-aokuro). I apologize for bad songfic; my excuse is that it was for a good cause...? *sheepish* (AoKuro still only came in 3rd place, despite the best efforts of the AoKuro Army, of which I was not a part of. I just threw in with one of the OTP leaders, since KiKasa was incredibly unlikely to win at that point, having only single-digit entries two days before the end of the battle! ([Provisional ending tally here](http://basketballpoetsociety.tumblr.com/post/77778609346/provisional-otp-battle-end-tally).)
> 
> Non-AO3 translations:  
> Translated to Chinese by twinstower [here](http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2969849545)!

1\. _Back to the street where we began_

Aomine looks around at the empty gym as he stands next to Kuroko. It's dark inside, the late afternoon sun no longer sufficient illumination. Neither of them move to turn on the lights. It's been a long time since the last late-night practice. 

Kuroko says, "Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if you'd really believed this gym was haunted."

Aomine snorts. "Do you really regret meeting me that much?"

Kuroko doesn't answer for a while, making Aomine wait for it. Aomine finally says, "Oi, seriously, Tetsu."

"I don't," Kuroko says. "I just wonder, sometimes."

 

2\. _Pickin' up things we shouldn't read_

"Mai-chan again?" Kuroko says, eyeing the rolled-up magazine in Aomine's hands. 

Aomine shrugs. "Old habits die hard. It's just a magazine."

Kuroko isn't sure what he feels when Aomine buys gravure magazines even after they've been doing this a while now, this sort-of-something-but-could-be-nothing. He only knows he doesn't enjoy it. 

 

3\. _It's just the end of the world_

"So he's your partner now, huh? Your new light."

Kuroko looks at Aomine, who's looking anywhere but Kuroko. "Kagami-kun? Yes. He is."

Aomine scuffs his shoes, doesn't say anything, and turns to walk away. 

 

4\. _Into a place where thoughts can bloom_

"Don't wonder," Aomine says, walking forward into the darkened gym. He finds the lights, switches them on. 

The basketballs in the back room are still inflated; it's been a long time since Aomine and Kuroko practiced here, but someone else has been, or perhaps there have been P.E. classes. Kuroko isn't sure, but it doesn't matter. 

Aomine picks up a ball, drops it, chooses another, looks satisfied. "Come on, Tetsu," Aomine says, heading towards the court. "Old times' sake."

"All right," Kuroko says, following him.

 

5\. _Into a room where it's nine in the afternoon_

It's dark outside. The sweat is dripping down his back, his neck, the side of his face. Kuroko wipes it absently with his shirt and then remembers that he doesn't have a change of clothes with him. "Aomine-kun, what time is it?"

They both look at the wall where a clock used to hang, but it's not there any more. Kuroko doesn't wear a watch. Aomine doesn't either. Their phones are over by the side of the court. Aomine shoots and dribbles by himself lazily as Kuroko picks his phone up. 

"So, what time is it?" Aomine tosses the ball towards the basket.

"Nine," Kuroko says. "I should have left an hour ago." Since he's already late, Kuroko calls his mother and apologizes, and tells her he'll be home soon. She laughs at him, saying something about it being a while since he's forgotten the time playing basketball.

 

6\. _Your eyes are the size of the moon_

Aomine has a bottle of Pocari Sweat from the vending machine and is holding it out to Kuroko. "Here," he says. 

Kuroko takes it, drinks from it through force of habit before remembering that perhaps he doesn't have the right to expect free drinks from Aomine any more. He opens his mouth, but Aomine forestalls him with a look. 

"You look tired," Aomine says. "You haven't been keeping in shape."

"There hasn't been a reason to stay in peak condition," Kuroko says.

Aomine shakes his head, but doesn't say anything in response.

 

7\. _Losing the feeling of feeling unique_

They pass the first gym on the way out. "Remember those days?" Aomine asks. 

As if Kuroko could ever forget. "I do," he says, taking the question at face value.

"I wish we could go back," Aomine says. "I wish I could tell myself not to be stupid. I wish I knew then what I know now. You were right. You told me, and I didn't listen."

"Some things we have to learn the hard way." Kuroko takes a sip; he hasn't quite finished the bottle of Pocari Sweat. Fizzy drinks make him burp if he drinks them too quickly. "It's all in the past, Aomine-kun."

"What if I don't want it to be, Tetsu?" 

 

8\. _Do you know what I mean?_

Kuroko looks up. Aomine has stopped walking, and he's looking at Kuroko with the face Kuroko has long associated with _I need your help_ and _what do I do_. 

 

9\. _Back to the room where it all began_

"Some things can't be changed, Aomine-kun," Kuroko says. He means middle school, things falling apart, broken friendships and lost trust, hurtful words, disrespectful deeds, where six teammates met, and six players parted.

Aomine closes his eyes.

Kuroko thinks of pride and arrogance, blunted with time. He lifts the bottle in his hands, feeling its weight--light, but still, it's there. "Some things can."

 

10\. _We're feeling so good / Just the way that we do / When it's nine in the afternoon_

Aomine opens his eyes. "Tetsu," he says, and his voice cracks.

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko says, smiling at him.


End file.
